Abstract

CABRAL NOBRE, Alena Pimentel Mello  and  DANTAS HODGES, Luciana Vasconcelos dos Santos. The bilingualism-cognition relationship in the literacy process. Ciênc. cogn. [online]. 2010, vol.15, n.3, pp. 180-191. ISSN 1806-5821.

Bilingualism has been the subject of various controversial studies. The literature in the area shows misconceptions that point to the bilingual experience as something harmful to the cognitive development of children. This essay aims to clarify the cognitive peculiarities of bilingual individuals and reflect on the positive aspects of the relationship between bilingualism and cognition. This discussion focuses on the processes involved in literacy, which are essential to the acquisition of writing skills. This discussion also proposes a reflection about the literacy of children who are exposed to two languages, aiming to clarify the peculiarities of this process in a bilingual condition. These discussions indicate that bilinguals perform better on tasks that are more demanding of their cognitive functions, as well as present metalinguistic awareness at an earlier age than monolinguals. Therefore, we believe there is enough data to corroborate the beneficial aspects of bilingualism over cognition and literacy. © Cien. Cogn. 2010; Vol. 15 (3): 180-191.

Keywords : bilingualism; cognition; literacy..

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